Each week, ESPN.com.au AFL draft expert Chris Doerre casts his eye over the country's best junior footballers to give readers an early insight into the next generation of AFL stars.
As well as attending live games, Doerre pores through match vision, analyses the stats and talks to industry sources to ensure he can offer the most insightful draft analysis.
Aside from the weekly wraps, Doerre will also unveil his power rankings at the end of each month and as we get closer to November's national draft, Doerre will also predict who goes where with his annual phantom draft.
Player Focus
Imposing himself at stoppages by winning first possession, ground balls inside 50m and tackling aggressively, Caleb Serong showed why he is a possible top-five pick with a standout effort against Eastern.
Serong, who plays a similar style of game to Isaac Heeney, displayed significant endeavour whenever the ball was there to be won. In a physical contest, his Gippsland side was knocked out of the finals by the top-of-the-table Eastern, who earned a Grand Final birth against Oakleigh.
While shorter at 178cm, Serong is firmly in the top-five discussion because he impacts games both with his ball-winning and overhead marking and is similarly effective through the midfield or up forward. Serong reads the ball early in flight, flies for marks inside 50m and uses his body effectively one-on-one to take marks.
An impressive athlete, Serong has a high vertical leap and an appealing combination of speed and agility. He collected 21 disposals, 11 contested possessions, two contested marks, six tackles, five clearances, five inside 50s and two goals against Eastern.
To further enhance his claims, Serong should look to improve is his reliability of kick placement and skill execution under pressure.
NAB League
Consolidating his No. 1 pick chances, Matthew Rowell was pivotal through Oakleigh's midfield in their strong win against Sandringham. He amassed 32 disposals, 19 contested possessions, six tackles, seven clearances and five inside 50s. Rowell won first possession at stoppages and his burst of acceleration was a highlight.
Earning best-on-ground honours, Oakleigh underager Will Phillips won first possession at stoppages, loose balls around the ground and accelerated out of stoppages at speed. While his best work was done at stoppages, Phillips provided run and carry around the ground and took on the game aggressively with ball in hand. The ball-winning midfielder posted 27 disposals, 15 contested possessions, eight tackles and eight clearances.
Enhancing his draft stocks, Kaden Schreiber played an impressive game for Oakleigh in defence. His vision and kicking out in front of targets on the lead and on the move running towards goal so they didn't need to break stride most stood out. The rebounding defender managed 24 disposals and eight marks (one contested).
Winning loose balls around the ground, moving the ball aggressively by foot, looking into the corridor and locating the most dangerous targets, Noah Anderson confirmed his status as one of this year's top prospects. Hitting the scoreboard heavily including converting a 55m set shot, Anderson posted 23 disposals and three goals for Oakleigh.
Western Bulldogs Next-Generation Academy prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan had a statement game that is likely to stick with recruiters. Firming as a potential pick No. 1 contender next year, Ugle-Hagan created separation effortlessly on the lead and was dangerous when isolated one-on-one close to goal. He broke the game open forward of centre and gave the feeling whenever the ball was kicked anywhere in his area that he'll take the mark, whether the ball was placed in the air or out in front of him to take on the lead.
The Oakleigh underager produced 12 disposals, nine marks (three contested) and four goals.
Sandringham underager Jake Bowey was impressive with ball in hand, demonstrating composure, agility, evasion and a nice sidestep. Managing 17 disposals, Bowey's run and carry was valuable, and his ground ball-winning strong.
Eastern underager Will Parker played an important for the Ranges in their win against Gippsland. His intercept marking, leaping for marks and hitting meaningful targets from defence provided a point of difference. The promising defender secured 23 disposals, six marks (one contested) and eight rebound 50s.
Hawthorn Next-Generation Academy underager Connor Downie was arguably Eastern's most influential offensively. His agility, evasion and line-breaking speed stood out with his kicking arguably even better - a case in point being when Downie launched a kick from 55m which sailed through for goal on his left boot. The talented midfielder managed 18 disposals, six inside 50s and one goal.
Working hard to impose himself early in the fourth quarter when the game was there to be won, Sam Flanders gave his all for Gippsland. He picked loose balls up cleanly off the bounce, won first possession at stoppages, shrugged tackles, barged through numbers with power, displayed vision and hurt the opposition by foot. The likely top-10 choice amassed 27 disposals, 15 contested possessions and eight clearances.
Playing his best game for the season, Ryan Sparkes played with an edge that recruiters have yet to see. In one sequence Spakes displayed notable endeavour to attack the ball with ferocity to win a 50/50 ground ball. He read the flight of the ball early and won one-on-ones in defence either taking the mark body-on-body or bringing the ball to ground and winning it. Sparkes kicked the ball out in front of targets to lead onto and provided run.
The precise ball user delivered 26 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 10 marks (three contested) and five inside 50s for Gippsland. His late-season development has been encouraging and could see him enter the draft mix.
Gippsland underager Sam Berry impressed with his power, winning first possession at stoppages and ground balls cleanly, distributing effectively by hand and accelerating out of stoppages at high speed. The ball-winning midfielder collected 21 disposals, 11 contested possessions and six tackles.
SANFL
League
Taking Glenelg's kickouts, likely first round choice Will Gould helped his team book a Grand Final berth against Port Adelaide, by beating Adelaide. The strongly built defender secured 18 disposals and nine rebound 50s.
Reserves
Earning a spot among the bests for Woodville-West Torrens in their win against Sturt, Harry Schoenberg was prolific through the midfield with 20 disposals, five clearances and two goals.
For Sturt, classy ball user Joshua Shute continued his strong vein of form with 18 disposals. This is his fourth games of his last five for Sturt's Reserves that he has featured among their best players.